The Australian Justice acquitted Kathleen Folbigg, the woman who spent two decades in prison accused of killing her four children

2023-12-14 08:59:23

The Australian Justice this Thursday annulled the sentences imposed on Kathleen Folbiggwho passed two decades in prison for murder of her four babies and that she was pardoned last June, after a review of her case determined that there were reasonable doubts about his guilt.

According to the ruling issued by the Court of Criminal Appeal of the state of New South Wales, the four charges against her were dropped: three of murder and one of involuntary manslaughter.

The 56-year-old Australian, whose case It was reopened in 2021 following an investigation coordinated by a Spanish scientist who linked deaths to genetic defectswas sentenced in 2003 to 40 years in prison, reduced to 30 years in 2005, for the death of his children (Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura) between 1989 and 1999when these They were between 19 days and 18 months old.

“I hoped and prayed that one day I could be here with my name cleared“, declared Folbigg in Sydney after hearing the ruling of the highest court of appeal in New South Wales.

The woman, who was described as “the worst serial killer” in that country, lamented: “The system preferred to blame me instead of accepting that, sometimes, Children can and do die suddenly, unexpectedly and heartbreakingly“.

Kathleen Folbigg with her lawyer Rhanee Rego. Photo: EFE.

Meanwhile, he was grateful that genetics and scientific advances gave him answers about the death of his children, although he regretted that “the legal answers” that his defense had in 1999 to prove his innocence “were ignored and dismissed“.

“The suffering of an innocent woman can and must be recognized and become an important impetus to improve our judicial system,” declared the attorney Rhanee Regowho announced that will ask for “substantial” compensation for Folbigg.

Although the sum is unknown, there is a precedent in the case of Lindy Chamberlain and her ex-husband Michael, who were pardoned for the death of their daughter Azaria, after their convictions were annulled in 1988.

Kathleen Folbigg spent two decades in prison. Photo: AP.

The couple, whose baby was stolen by a dingo (wild dog) in Uluru – located in the Australian desert and whose story was made into a film – were compensated in 1992 with 1.3 million Australian dollars (870,000 US dollars), according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The pardon after review of the case

This Thursday’s decision is based on the conclusions of the review of this case by former judge Tom Bathurst, who concluded that there were “reasonable doubts” about Folbigg’s guilt, which motivated the governor of New Wales to South, Margaret Beazleyto be signed last June on pardon of the woman.

Following that decision, Folbigg was releasedwhile Bathurst referred the case to the Court of Appeal to quash the convictions or order another trial.

In this recent ruling, the Court of Appeal agreed with Bathurst on the data provided by the new scientific evidenceas well as the conclusion that Mrs Folbigg’s diary entries, which were used to frame her, were “not reliable admissions of guilt”.

The fundamental role of a Spanish scientist

The case was reopened following a letter sent in 2021 to the Australian authorities by a hundred scientists – including two Nobel Prizes– to request clemency and immediate release of Folbigg.

The trigger for this request was the conclusions reached in 2020 by a team of scientists, coordinated by the Spanish immunologist Carola García de Vinuesa and led by the Danish Michael Toft Overgaardwho pointed out that the deaths of the Folbigg babies could be due to genetic causes.

Furthermore, the study, made up of an international team of 27 scientists, found that children carried rare variants of a gene that kills rodents with epileptic seizures.

“This is great news and a reminder that The judicial system needs to listen more to scienceand value more the contribution of genomic medicine to understand the cause of sudden death and rare diseases, before blaming the mothers“said the Spanish scientist in an email sent to EFE.